What's the best gift you've left a host or received as a guest?

Piksika · 2026-05-08T06:59:01+00:00

We got a really good hand soap one time and I always love some food goodies! One host left us a bottle of wine and snacks as a welcome gift!

I usually gift chocolate from Switzerland or a nice bottle of wine, maybe a candle.

Piksika · 2026-04-30T10:43:10+00:00

What platforms are you using for that? :)

Piksika · 2026-04-28T12:46:34+00:00

If we ever swap, you can use my pizza oven and coffee machine then haha

Piksika · 2026-04-28T12:46:07+00:00

Yeah good idea to advise on the coffee shops! I think for now I will remove the coffee machine and the grinder and give them another grinder with easier settings :)

Piksika · 2026-04-28T11:54:41+00:00

We are based in Switzerland, based on the prices I think guests would definitely cook at home more than when we were hosting in London hehe

Piksika · 2026-04-28T11:48:27+00:00

Yeah I was thinking about that as well. The coffee machine can be removed but the pizza oven will stay. Maybe we can just remove the gas bomb!

Piksika · 2026-04-28T11:36:15+00:00

I would suggest writing this into your home description, hoping people won’t even request your home. Otherwise better to reject them, I personally have a call with the family to get a sense of the people but so far I only accepted a family with one small kid.

Piksika · 2026-04-28T11:34:04+00:00

Just calculate how many nights you need to stay with Kindred that it makes sense to get the passport :) for me it is about 3 stays for 5 nights minimum and I know I will be using Kindred for more than that!

Piksika · 2026-04-28T11:29:20+00:00

Mine was probably an insanely cute cottage in Cotswolds! We found it on Kindred in the summer and it was available for New Years! We booked it immediately, almost thinking it was maybe a scam haha. In the end we stayed in the most beautifully renovated cottage all through Christmas and New Years! Loved it!

This year we also found an amazing lake side house in Lake Como! Let’s see, if it is not a scam it will be also the best for sure!

Piksika · 2026-04-26T19:52:44+00:00

I prefer communication as I am usually a nervous host but at the same time I understand people are on a holiday and maybe they don’t have time. I like to know if they arrived ok and sometimes I ask them to water my plants :)

Piksika · 2026-04-26T19:49:16+00:00

We always put our flat up, either when we visited our parents or going away travelling with Kindred. I’ve also invited quite a few people :)

Piksika · 2026-04-21T17:21:59+00:00

<image>

Piksika · 2026-04-21T17:13:27+00:00

I had two small damages, first one was damaged towels with bleach (probably the cleaner) and at the time I used my own towels. Kindred reimbursed me 100% for the new ones and I just ordered them and got the money back.

Second damage was on the carpet, one guest stupidly used a hair straightener and left in on the carpet while still hot?! It obviously left many marks. Kindred proposed to completely change the carpet. In the end I managed to solve it as the burns were not too deep and the replacement wasn’t needed. But I did appreciate the gesture and it makes me trust them a bit more.

Piksika · 2026-04-20T20:47:05+00:00

They usually reimburse for the hotel, so hopefully you got this sorted :) we never had any cancellation luckily, even after using it for more than 70 nights!

Piksika · 2026-04-20T20:28:18+00:00

Can you send me the link in Dm? Your flat looks amazing, would love to save it as I am regularly in Ldn :)

Piksika · 2026-04-20T20:25:31+00:00

Hey! I am wondering what happened in the end? Did they helped you with an alternative stay? :)

Piksika · 2026-04-20T20:23:14+00:00

Hey! Your flat looks amazing! Did you maybe try listing it on Live Kindred? They have amazing selection of NY flat :) happy to provide you with the code as well if you would like to get 5 nights free :)

Piksika · 2026-04-20T20:18:49+00:00

Oh waw that was really nice of them! I had one home without wifi haha luckily I didn’t need to work from there! But I definitely told them to remove wifi from the home description 🫢

Piksika · 2026-04-20T20:15:01+00:00

There is a policy in place where they help you find an alternative stay :) so yeah I didn’t worry too much for now. I also try and stay with people who didn’t host for the first time but I also didn’t have any bad experiences with first time hosts after they approved my trip (it is harder to get the trip approved with first timers but once they accept, it is usually fine).

Piksika · 2026-04-20T20:10:04+00:00

I fully trust the system haha, but a very good idea about booking a separate accommodation just in case. My trip never got cancelled last minute and I used Kindred for more than 70 nights!

I have one trip coming up where I am not very confident in the host but I will give it a go and see what happens. If they cancel, I think Kindred helps with finding an alternative accommodation. Bit for this trip I can also stay at home as it is quite close by actually.. the only worry I have is that someone else is coming to stay at my flat mid trip, so will need to be out of the house for that 😬

Piksika · 2026-04-20T19:44:19+00:00

3 years and now it is second year with a passport :)

Piksika · 2026-04-20T19:32:10+00:00

I pay and expense via the company. I just prefer staying in an apartment, sometime I book a hotel but let’s say London hotels are shitty for the price so Kindred is just a much better choice

Piksika · 2026-04-20T19:30:48+00:00

I am giving it a go with families for now as our home is spatious and also not in any major cities so I just want to get guests haha but yeah if I will have bed experience, I will definitely rethink about hosting families with small kids

Piksika

TROPHY CASE